New Family Member, Pics to Come Soon.....

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Betty's been doing pretty well lately. Her trainer has also given her a travel kennel as well. That way I can put her in ...

Betty's been doing pretty well lately. Her trainer has also given her a travel kennel as well. That way I can put her in it when we go places and she's safe. She would always have free roam of the car, which was not the best idea, and my other kennel was too big to fit in the back seat of the car. Now we have something. Got it free. So we've started crate training with the new crate. At first she didn't even want to go in, but I kept telling Betty, 'In the house'. As soon as she went in, I started being really happy and she'd come out to be petted and scratched on the belly. I would do it over and over. Then 2 days later, she started going in on her own, and as soon as I saw her go in, I would act very happy and she'd come out and run happily to me for petting and belly rubs. Within 4 days, she absolutely loves the new crate. Took no food, just being really, really happy and giving her pets and belly rubs. I see people trying hard to crate train their dogs, trying to force them in and feeding in them, and then end up not liking them at all. I highly recommend at least trying this method, getting the dog really excited when they go in. It really works. I also had a friend here locally do it because he had his dog where he absolutely hated the crate. Within a week, the dog was beginning to actually like it. So I know it works, and usually works fast from what I've experienced.

As for our walks, Betty's doing pretty well. She still lunges at other dogs if they get too close, but we've been working on it. The other day, we saw 2 sets of dogs walking the trail, and we were down by the river. I decided to get Betty in the middle. So we let the first ones walk by, then got up on the trail. She was more interested in the pups behind us than the one in front of us. We walked a couple miles this way until we were back at the parking area. While walking, Betty would stop, and I would let out the long line, and as soon as I neared the end of the line, I would say 'Betty, Come', and she would come running up to me and I would treat her and say, 'You see those nice puppies?', and we would walk a little farther and she'd stop again and I would repeat. Occasionally she would run ahead, looking at the dog ahead, then stop, and as soon as I got to her, would praise her and tell her she's being a good dog, giving treats. She did really well, and never lunged either direction. And it was really fun too. I wish I could have setups like this more often.

Then there was another day where we got in front of another dog, and Betty did the same. The only difference this time is they were walking faster than we were, and were slowly gaining. And I saw Betty's arrousal level increasing, but she kept coming. Then, before they got too close, I found a place where I could take her off the trail and let them pass by with no issues. Thought I'd rather end it on a positive note than lunging. She did really well. So things are slowly getting better. She just needs more work, and lots of praises.

Well, it's Monday again, guess what that means? You probably guessed correctly, she had school today. But instead of doing her normal Rally training, we changed it up a bit and worked on Obedience. We worked on her heeling, did some drills with heeling in a straight line, then heeling in a straight line with a hault in the middle. Then finally, we drilled her on watching me while heeling, where we would heel in a straight line and whenever she took her eyes off me, we would stop and I would put her at a sit. It went very well, but she's got to practice, practice, practice. But she'll get it, will take some time. So this is my homework for the week, having 2 to 3 short sessions a day for the whole week, doing a little of each of these 3 things that we worked on. We will do some more Rally on occasion, but her classes are going to be working more on her Basic Obedience, which should correct her sloppyness in Rally-O.

Well, Betty's class went well. We first had some fun with a little agility stuff. We started with direction with 2 jumps, Betty did really well with it. We had to have barriers up because she would run around the jumps. But we got to the point where she was doing the jumps on command, and the correct direction. I would point left or right, and she would go that direction and take the jump. Then we worked a little with the broad jump, just for some fun. She loved it. Then we went on to Obedience, working more on her heeling and turns. Her turns are getting really good, but her heeling and sits are still sloppy, but she's really come a long ways, and shouldn't be too much longer and her heel and sit will be great.

New update here, Betty is going in for her first herding class on Sunday at 4pm. It's going to be great, and I think this time I'm going to be wearing my boots, and not my good shoes like the last time and was muddy up to my pockets, lol. It was great, lol.

Does Betty stay in the kennel during the day, when you are at work? Or does she permanently live there? They learn to stay inside and wait fast and it is much better than chain them as some people still do it here

We went on a bike walk yesterday and I stretched it too far. Mirta was sooo tired. I kept her in today and we skipped school. I didn't see her paws being injured or rubbed but she keeps licking one. Maybe it is just sore. But after all it is dals' job to run along. People make remarks at me that I am too harsh on her. But you should see her desire to follow each time I take my bike!

I am glad to hear that Betty enjoys her herding trainings! She looks well fed and well built - quite strong, good for this job!

As for the kennel, she hasn't stayed in it yet. The neighbors have a dog on the other side of the fence, and when Betty's out there, both dogs are noisy. So I'm going to have to move the kennel. Going to wait til I put up the 6ft fence in the back and then I'll move the kennel. But for now, she stays in the indoor kennel while I'm gone, or she redecorates the house.

As for the Dal's paw, I would keep an eye on it. It could have a sliver, or something stuck between the toes. If the Dal is calm for you, take a closer look with a good light. You don't want an infection to start, which can lead to other problems. Because he is licking, could very well be something wrong or something minor.

Betty's class went great today. She did very well with the sheep, and the trainer is very impressed. Today she actually kept the sheep off the fence, and we ended the session with one more run where she pulled the sheep off the fence and ran them to us, then went Down on command. It was awsome.

Today we had a couple instances where we were approached by off-leash dogs. The first was with a Red Heeler. We walked by a yard without a fence, and never knew they had a dog. Well, the owner was out with the dog, and I don't think the owner saw us or his dog coming towards us, as he was around the corner of the house. His dog, who was a male red heeler, approached Betty, and when he came within 15ft, he slowed down and started to arc a bit. From what I understand, this is a proper approach, and not a head-on approach. He came up to Betty, and Betty looked a little stressed but seemed ok with his approach. I also praised her a bit as well, telling her she's a good girl and he's a good boy. But a big mistake, it's one of the only times I was out and wasn't armed with good treats. He then came up to Betty's behind and sniffed. Betty then looked back, and as he sniffed again, she whipped around to strike, and I had to apply a correction. The male dog took a few steps back and sat, watching me and Betty. Then about 20 seconds later, he turned and went back to his owner. Now my question is, what would be the proper thing to do? When Betty was beside me and she turned her head, I had no view of her face, so I couldn't see any signs. Is the turn of the head a sign where you need to intervene to keep her from going over the line? Should I have given her a verbal correction when she turned her head towards the other dog, since I couldn't see if she started do any lip curls or any other facial signs? Overall, I thought this was a really good sign for her, as after her snap and bark, she didn't continue, but just sat there and watched him as he left. A normal occurance would be lunging and pulling to get at him.

The other instance was a neighbors dog behind a fence with an open gate. The dog had escaped the other neighbors back yard and running free in their yard with a gate open. Betty seemed to have no issues with him, he's an older Border Collie mix. And he came up to the fence and made a quick greet and went back to where the other dogs were, and Betty looked as if she really wanted to join all of them, was really excited, but not overly excited.

Then we came to another street corner where there looked to be a male black lab/great dane mix. Looked lab'ish but was much, much larger, and had ears more like a dane. He was in their fenced yard, and was kitty-corner from us, so the street was between us. He barked and Betty looked. I had Betty sit on the corner, and she looked at him. I praised her and petted her. The other dog then came to the corner of the fence, and Betty still sat fairly calm. Then the other dog decided, well, since you are sitting so pretty, so can I, lol. He looked like the cutest huge dog, sitting there nice and handsome, neither dogs barking or wanting at each other. I stayed about 2 minutes, praising Betty and rubbing her on the chest. Then we walked off, and she came with me with no issues, heeling perfectly.

Overall, we had a nice walk. Any comments on anything we did is appreciated. She still has issues with some of the dogs we pass, but is getting much better with the new dogs we come in contact with. She still doesn't like the one monster dog we occasionally pass, looks to be a shepherd/rotty mix. She's never liked him and lunges anytime she sees him. So we don't pass there very often, just now and then to see if any of her other training is taking enough effect to where maybe someday she can pass without lunging.

Edit:
I always take caution as well, and look at several things when another dog approaches, such as speed, direction, ears, tail, muzzle, eyes. And I felt good about doing it this time, which is like a once-in-a-million type of occasion. 99% of the times I take other measures, whether walking away, shooing the dog away, or anything else, but the other dog seemed to be giving me good vibes, and thought if anything, would be a positive experience for Betty, instead of one where I'm pulling her away on the collar like I'm showing her I'm afraid and wanting to run away from him. The pressure on her collar to pull her away is what starts the lunging, and she's very sensitive to that.

Also, we've been working really hard down at the park on her issues, and this has been the first time we did our walk closer to home, and her actions today really made me feel good. Not just with the red heeler, but with the other 2 dogs as well, who were off leash but behind fences, and one was across the intersection. Whenever we would come across a dog that barked across the street, she would start pulling and wanting across, and she did none of that today. It's times like these that make me feel really good about all the work we have been doing.